Terry Yegbe (born 25 January 2001) is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender for Swedish

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

club

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional association football, football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Alls ...

and the Ghana national team.

Early career

Born in

Akatsi Akatsi is a small town and is the capital of Akatsi South Municipality, a municipality in the Volta Region of Ghana. Economy Economic activities in Akatsi are mainly Subsistence agriculture coupled with vibrant buying and selling. Smuggling of ...

, Yegbe started to play football in a youth team of local Division Two side Kickers FC. He was scouted by a

Sogakope Sogakofe (also known as Sogakope) is the capital of South Tongu district, a district in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is home to the lower Volta Bridge which connects Sogakofe to Sokpoe. The town is mostly known for its river tourism and Mass b ...

-based

Ghana Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 ...

club

West African Football Academy West African Football Academy Sporting Club or WAFA for short, is a Ghanaian professional football club based near Sogakope in the Volta Region. They are competing in the Ghana Premier League. The 2016–17 season was a successful one for WAFA as ...

(WAFA), and was offered a contract to their academy in August 2018. Yegbe made his senior debut with the club's first team in Ghana Premier League in 2019. After his contract expired with WAFA, Yegbe moved to

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

to the Division One club Vision FC, where he spent two years, before moving to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Club career

SJK Seinäjoki

In March 2022, Yegbe was first loaned out to

SJK Seinäjoki SJK may refer to: * Kemi Sámi (ISO 639-3 code) * São José dos Campos Regional Airport (IATA airport code) in Brazil * Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho, association football club from Seinäjoki, Finland * San Juan Knights, a professional basketball t ...

in Finland with a purchase option, and was initially registered to their academy squad SJK II, playing in the Finnish second tier,

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

. On 27 November 2022, his loan was extended until the end of 2023 and he was promoted to the first team. After a highly successful start to the season in

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

, his loan was cut short and he signed a permanent contract with SJK, on a deal until the end of 2027, for an undisclosed fee. Yegbe quickly established his place in the starting line-up and became an integral part of the SJK defense. On 8 June 2023, in the Ostrobothnia derby (Finnish: ''Pohjanmaan derby'') match against

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matc ...

(VPS), Yegbe gained a wide recognition as he indirectly scored a goal with his long throw-in on the 2nd minute of the game. The ball went in the net by the fingers of VPS goalkeeper Teppo Marttinen, and it was registered as an own goal.

Elfsborg

On 13 December 2023, it was announced that Yegbe would join Swedish side

from 1 January 2024, signing a contract until the end of the 2028 season. The deal reportedly commanded a transfer fee in the region of kr6.8-7.9 million, which roughly corresponds to

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

600,000-700,000. On 1 April 2024, Yegbe made his official debut for Elfsborg, in a

2024 Allsvenskan The 2024 Allsvenskan was the 100th season since its establishment in 1924 of Sweden's top-level football league, Allsvenskan. The season began on 30 March 2024 and ended on 10 November 2024 (not including play-off matches). Malmö FF successfull ...

season opening game against

IFK Värnamo IFK Värnamo is a Swedish professional Association football, football club located in Värnamo. The club plays in the Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. The most famous player from the club is Jonas Thern, who was captain of the Swede ...

. On 5 May 2024, in a match against

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

, Yegbe was sent off by a red card for elbowing Yousef Salech in the stomach. Later he received a four-game ban for the incident. Yegbe scored his first goals in Allsvenskan on 14 July 2024 by a brace, helping his side to a 5–3 away win against

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

. Yegbe also represented Elfsborg in the

2024–25 UEFA Europa League The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League was the 54th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 16th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. This was the first season played under ...

new league phase.

International career

Yegbe got a call up to Ghana U23 national team for the

2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, known for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 4th edition of the quadrennial African association football, football tournament organized by the ...

tournament in the summer 2023. He played in all three of the group stage matches against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, Congo and Guinea. Ghana finished 3rd in the group and was eventually knocked out of the competition. Yegbe made his debut for the Ghana national team on 18 November 2024, in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

at the

Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra, Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium w ...

. He started the game and played 79 minutes, as Niger won 2–1.

Personal life

Yegbe has named

David Alaba David Alaba (; born 24 June 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Austria national team. He was previously primarily a left-back, and was considered one of the best ...

his idol in football.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yegbe, Terry Living people 2001 births Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Ykkönen players Veikkausliiga players Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho players SJK Akatemia players Ghana men's youth international footballers Ghana men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden IF Elfsborg players West African Football Academy players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Allsvenskan players Vision F.C. players Ghana Premier League players Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Division One League players